Charity Organizations

join us enabling the poorest of the poor toimprove their own lives

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

The
attacks come just days into the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast
during daylight hours. After sundown, families break their fast and
restaurants and cafes quickly fill up with people staying up long into
the night.

By MURTADA FARAJThe Associated Press-Tues., May 30, 2017

BAGHDAD—A massive bombing by Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, outside a
popular ice cream shop in central Baghdad and a rush hour car bomb in
another downtown area killed at least 31 people on Tuesday, Iraqi
officials said.

Later in the day, bombings in and around the Iraqi capital killed seven more people.

The attacks come as Daesh militants are steadily losing more territory
to U.S.-backed Iraqi forces in the battle for Mosul, the country’s
second-largest city. The Sunni extremists are increasingly turning to
insurgency-style terror attacks to distract attention from their losses.

The nighttime attack outside the ice cream parlour in the bustling
Karrada neighbourhood killed 17 people and also wounded 32, police and
health officials said.

A closed-circuit camera captured the moment of the explosion, the video
showing a busy downtown avenue, with cars driving down the street when
the blast strikes. A huge fireball then engulfs a building, forcing the
cars to scramble to get away. Other videos of the attack posted on
social media show wounded and bloodied people crying for help on the
sidewalk outside the ice cream parlour.

In the second attack, an explosives-laden car went off during rush hour
near the state-run Public Pension Office in Baghdad’s busy Shawaka area,
killing 14, a police officer said. At least 37 people were wounded in
that attack, he added.

Daesh
claimed responsibility for a bombing outside a popular ice cream shop
in central Baghdad and a rush hour car bomb in another downtown area on
Tuesday. (KARIM KADIM / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

In separate online statements, Daesh claimed responsibility for the two
attacks, saying its suicide bombers targeted gatherings of Shiites. The
Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statements but
they were posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists.

Later Tuesday, seven people died and 19 were wounded in four separate
bombings in and around Baghdad, officials said. The attacks targeted
commercial areas and a patrol of Sunni anti-Daesh tribal fighters, they
said. No group immediately claimed those attacks.